. Wanderings in South America, the north-west of the United States and the Antilles in the years 1812, 1816, 1820 & 1824 : with original instructions for the perfect preservation of birds, etc. for cabinets of natural history . ee Powise. Hog, Wild.—,^66 Peccary. HouTOU [Momotus Braziliensis).—This is a very remarkablebird, if only for the peculiarity in the central tail-feathers,attributed by Waterton to art, but really due to Nature may be seen by the illustration, a ■ portion of the web inthe two central feathers is wanting, and the bird really doesstrip the vanes from the stem, as
. Wanderings in South America, the north-west of the United States and the Antilles in the years 1812, 1816, 1820 & 1824 : with original instructions for the perfect preservation of birds, etc. for cabinets of natural history . ee Powise. Hog, Wild.—,^66 Peccary. HouTOU [Momotus Braziliensis).—This is a very remarkablebird, if only for the peculiarity in the central tail-feathers,attributed by Waterton to art, but really due to Nature may be seen by the illustration, a ■ portion of the web inthe two central feathers is wanting, and the bird really doesstrip the vanes from the stem, as mentioned by are, however, several birds, notably the VariegatedBee-eater of Australia, which have similarly-shaped tail-feathers, but in which the pecviliar foimation is due to Nature,and not to art. It is a fly-catching bird, sitting quietly on abranch until an insect flies near, when it darts from its perch,catches the insect, re-seats itself, and then swallows its prey. The plumage of a fresh specimen is bright blue and green EXPLANATORY INDEX. 421 glossed with crimson, and there is a black velvety spot onthe breast and head. But the colours soon fade in a stuffedspecimen when exposed to Howler, Red (Mycetes ursinus).—This fine monkey, ofwhich so many strange stories are told, is sometimes men-tioned under the title of Araguato. It sometimes attains atotal length exceeding six feet, the tail occupying more thanhalf of that measurement. The following account of theRed Howler is taken from Mr. C. B. Browns work onGuiana :—- At early morning, at dusk, and through the night, at allour camping places, we were accustomed to hear the Howlersserenading. To my mind the sounds produced by thesemonkeys more nearly resembled a roar than a howl, and whensufficiently far off are not unpleasant to the ear. Whenheard from a distance of half a mile or so they seem to beginwith low notes, swelling gradually into louder and longer 422 EXPLANATORY INDEX. ones
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